Famous during the nineteenth and twentieth century, blackface is defined as “…a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person.” Back in those ages (which weren’t that long ago), blackface was used to represent someone of African descent, usually in a comedic way, in order to make a mockery of black people. In some instances, blackface wasn’t used as a joke, persay, but as a way for white people to portray black people in movies and/or television shows in the days where people of color were not allowed to act in them.
When used as a caricature obviously trying to derail the black race, blackface is condemned and brought to a halt. However, in the day of age of makeup and costuming, people often ask themselves whether what they’re doing is blackface or not. There have been various cases in the year of 2015 where white people and/or non-black people of color with lighter skin have used products to darken their complexion, whether it be to imitate a black person or otherwise.
One easily controversial topic is of the makeup guru jkbonito, who consistently uses black people as models for his looks. In one of his pictures, he paints his face dark brown and uses makeup to make himself look like Welven Da Great, the star of various “Deez nuts!” videos. What the slight controversy surrounding jkbonito is whether or not his portrayals of black people (he has also done Snoop Dogg, Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna) count as blackface.
The answer, in all actuality, is yes.
Jkbonito is performing blackface, whether that’s
his intention or not. To refer to the formal definition of the term, blackface is a “….form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person.” Jkbonito is using makeup to represent a black person. Using any race as a costume constitutes as blackface, yellowface, redface, or brownface, depending on the race being portrayed.
The most common excuse to defend jkbonito is that he’s just “painting his face,” and that his makeup is “celebrating being black” instead of making a mockery. In all actuality, it’s possible to pay homage to people without superimposing their entire face onto one’s own. The whole idea of blackface is that it makes one look black. If he’s painting himself to look exactly like a black person, no matter how aesthetically-pleasing or realistic his art is, it’s blackface.
Another example of blackface with the lines blurred is makeup, specifically when people use foundation shades darker than their skin tone to appear more brown than they already are. Some people don’t consider it blackface and say that it’s just a matter of adding color to the pallid faces of others, but that really is not the case. In most incidents, using darker makeup to appear darker is akin to blackface, no matter which way it’s added up. It’s one thing for your makeup to match your neck. It is, however, it’s another thing for one’s makeup to make them look ten shades darker, and for them to claim that it is their real shade.
Ah, but what about tanning? Tanning is not blackface because it doesn’t achieve a level dark enough. Someone coming out of a tanning booth will have a different tan than someone using ill-suited foundation to appear darker.
So, there it is. In its whole entirety: using makeup to make yourself look black or to represent a black person is blackface. Borrowing someone’s race for a moment isn’t acceptable, especially not when the stigma that comes with it isn’t included.
